PA Trolley Museum and PATOS To Present Trolleys In Silent Film

Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 February 2024 13:25

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Harold Lloyd’s “Girl Shy” To Feature Most Spectacular Trolley Chase Sequence Ever Filmed!

Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston on a trolley in “Girl Shy”

The Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society (PATOS) and the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) will team up to present trolleys in silent films on Saturday, February 24, at 7:30PM at Keystone Oaks Auditorium in Dormont.

The main event of the program will be organist Clark Wilson accompanying Harold Lloyd’s 1924 “Girl Shy” on the PATOS Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ. This silent film from 1924 contains the greatest trolley chase scene ever filmed (silent or otherwise). You will be both mesmerized by this complicated sequence and awestruck by the absolute danger of Lloyd performing it.

In addition, the PA Trolley Museum will screen a silent film that they themselves filmed in 2023! This film short stars not only members of the museum staff, but also one of the Museum’s

beautifully restored streetcars.

Dan Bower, maintenance manager at PTM, approached PATOS last summer about organizing a program that would combine theatre pipe organ and trolleys.

“We are thoroughly excited to work with the PA Trolley Museum for this event,” says Dale Abraham, president of PATOS. “Their trolley museum in Washington, PA, is a world class working facility, and pairing up a 100-year-old organ with 100-year-old streetcars was a no-brainer!”

Tickets for this event are available at the PATOS website (www.pittsburghtheatreorgan.com) or at the Showclix website (www.showclix.com/event/trolleys). Admission is $20 in advance, or $25 at the door. Students are free with ID.

Keystone Oaks Auditorium is located at 1000 Kelton Ave. in Dormont. Plentiful free parking is available just off McNeilly Road adjacent to the auditorium. Doors open at 6:45PM and the performance starts at 7:30PM.

The Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society maintains the Pittsburgh area’s only Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ still operating in a public venue. The PATOS mission is to keep the unique sounds of the theatre organ alive in Pittsburgh by presenting the instrument regularly throughout the year.